It was the principle of local rule that caused Sam Adams and those other rowdy Bostonians to don Indian costumes and dye Boston Harbor brown with the king's tea in 1773. They were tired of paying taxes to a distant ruler who seemed as apathetic about the colonies as the colonies were about wig powder and gavottes. The distant crown simply wasn't meeting local expectations.

To be sure, no one from Fort Myers Beach dumped any tea --- or Sam Adams -- into Mantanzas Pass nearly four years ago, but a revolution had begun nonetheless.

And it didn't end until Fort Myers Beach incorporated itself into The Town of Fort Myers Beach.

What Was All the Fuss About?

Although several half-hearted attempts at home rule had been mounted since 1986, none properly fired the zeal of the townspeople. None, that is, until Diamond Head, the sixth property of Sunstream Hotels and Resorts, was proposed.

"Diamond Head was an eye opener," recalls Harry Hogan, manager of Best Western Beach Resort and Fort Myers Beach resident since 1983. "Many tried to portray it as the Tampa Convention Center." This portrayal lead to open debate.

"Diamond Head was a land use decision made by county commissioners," says Fort Myers Beach Town Manager Marsha Segal-George. She remembers that the commissioners were asked to vacate a public beach access point to give Diamond Head a permit. At the public input hearing, the Beach protest was well-represented with 400 or 500 people overflowing the meeting room, according to Segal-George. Few, if any, issues had stimulated such a turnout, before or since. At the end of the evening, though, public opinion didn't seem to matter. "The commissioners did it anyway, four to one," she laments.

The commission vote set into motion a fast-track run for local control of Fort Myers Beach. For some, the track was too fast. "It started in January and was voted on in July," says Petro Petruccelli, president of the Greater Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce, "and we didn't have an opportunity -- were not invited -- to participate to put the charter together."

Although frequently portrayed as being against incorporation, Petruccelli says the chamber favored incorporation, but was against the proposed charter that would lead the town. In fact, he says, the chamber's opposition to the referendum and its timing were perceived by some as opposition to incorporation. "We were in favor [of incorporation] since 1986," he says. "We said we'd like to wait and revise the charter, but they voted anyway."

Flip Harby, president of Concerned Citizens of Fort Myers Beach, didn't want to incorporate. "I was opposed," he says. For Harby, too, the effort was too sudden. "The data available as far as what the future held was incomplete." Primarily, he was concerned about taxes and income. "There was not enough positive information."

The vote was taken at a special referendum in July of 1996. "It was close," recalls Segal-George, "but it went."

A Business Booster

Now, everyone appears happy. "Many people who were against incorporation are now supportive of the town government," says Segal-George.

Harby says, "Not a bad deal now. Our government is doing a good job."

Best of all, says Petruccelli, "Absolutely, it's been good for business."

Bonnie Shafer is with Pirate's Treasures and Jewels, a store on Fort Myers Beach, and she has observed the effect the change has had on business owners. "It's been wonderful for Fort Myers Beach, with its own sense of community, and its own soul," she says. She recognizes the differences of opinion that have polarized some community members, but sees any spirited discussion as good. "Most are really stating that they have a passion about the community, a sense of belonging," she says, "and that can't be anything but good."

Times Square, a group of restaurants and other party businesses on the north end of the Beach, is the example most often held up to demonstrate the effect of home rule on the home front. Shafer says, "Having the Square cleaned up has given everyone a sense of pride. We had become discouraged with how downgraded the Times Square area had become."

An increase is business is difficult to quantify, even for Town Manager Segal-George, but she can feel it. "I think we are doing more business," she says, and cites the 1998 Christmas and New Year celebrations when she'd never seen the Island so packed.

"You were seeing declining property values (before incorporation)," Segal-George adds. She sees older homes being rehabbed and more capital dollars invested. "We stopped the slide and started step-by-step with a trend up, with rising property values."

Not everyone credits Times Square's rebirth to incorporation, though. Harby attributes it as much to timing as anything else. "Down in the Times Square area, we had the CRA [Community Redevelopment Act] project going before incorporation, The monies were already there, and the project was well-started."

Furthermore, he predicts that costs to those businesses will go up. "Now we are seeing, because of upkeep costs and maintenance, the businesses are going to be taxed. So, of course, the town is levying the tax to those business in that area."

He concedes, however, that the costs would have been there anyway. "It would have been the county if we weren't incorporated."

Cost Accounting

How much does this extra layer of government cost? So far, according to all concerned, not one red cent.

Best Western's Hogan hasn't paid anything. "I don't see any raise in costs," he says. "They have a good management team to run the government without increasing our costs."

Segal-George boasts, "We've never raised taxes."

The Chamber's Petruccelli is slightly more conservative. He says, "It may have cost a little bit, but it's not unreasonable."

Even Harby agrees. "There has been no real increase in costs to businesses."

In fact, according to Segal-George, the Town of Fort Myers Beach has saved taxpayers money. "Right now, it is cheaper to live in Fort Myers Beach than in unincorporated Lee County," she says. She explains that when a town incorporates, it can begin to receive unincorporated Municipal Service Taxing Unit revenue -- the county can no longer claim those funds. "For us, that's a little over one mil, and that's worth about $1 million," she says.

The economies come several ways, Segal-George says. For one, the town didn't raise taxes while the county did. Second, the county instituted a public service franchise tax fee. "We don't have that," she says. Third, the county charges an All Hazards MSTU for hurricane evacuation, shelters and flooding. "We do not charge for that," she repeats. "Aggregate them, and that's the difference between unincorporated Lee and the town."

There is no loss of service, either, Segal-George claims. "We are providing all of those and more. We're doing it through e